Instruments of Darkness

Hello and welcome back to another update of Forgotten Hope 2. Once again the Forgotten Hope Team would like to present some of the new assets we've been developing for the first release of Forgotten Hope 2! And for today's update we have broad range of new items for you to consider, a new vehicle, a new weapon and a new map!

But first we have some information that you may find interesting. To start with, we would like to announce that Forgotten Honor has a new tournament and custom FH minimod for your enjoyment. More details are available below.

Secondly, many people have expressed their dissatisfaction that we have not identified a release date for the first version of FH2. As we have said before, as soon as we had some confidence that we were getting close we would let you know. We intend to release Forgotten Hope 2 during the summer of 2007. It might be early summer or late summer, we can't be sure which yet. But we will make every effort to release a playable version no later than that. This is not quite the same as a release date, of course but it is a time frame that we think can be met.

As a last item, we would like to invite talented modders interested in joining the Forgotten Hope 2 team to send applications to Lobo. We are particularly looking for coders amd skinners but will consider any talented people that are interested in helping out.

Now on to the new stuff. The first new item for your consideration is the Panzerkampfwagen II Ausf F. Originally a stopgap design to make up for the lack of sufficient numbers of Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs to meet the requirements of the growing Panzerwaffe, the Panzer IIs served in large numbers throughout the early campaigns in Poland, France and Russia. By the time the Ausf F first appeared, in 1941, the inadequacies of the Panzer II series were well known, and it had been relegated mainly to reconnaissance duties. The Panzer IIF was the last regular production model of the series, and featured heavier armor, as well as adjustments to the suspension and an improved commanders cupola. Forgotten Hope 2's Panzer IIF was modeled by Lude and skinned by AaronAsh and Toddel.

Next in line is one of the mainstays of the British infantry, the legendary Bren light machine gun. The Bren began its career as the Czechoslovakian ZB vz.26 LMG. Licensed by the British Armed forces in 1935 the design was modified to suit British requirements, and redesignated the "Bren" a contraction of Brno, the name of the town where it was first developed, and Enfield, the name of the British town where it was later manufactured. The Bren was tough, well made, and easily maintained. Despite being somewhat prone to jamming, if not kept very clean, it was one of the most highly regarded infantry weapons in the British arsenal. The Bren also frequently appeared mounted on vehicles. Forgotten Hope 2's Bren was modeled by Omni and McGibs skinned by McGibs.

Operation Hyacinth is the second map we have announced for Forgotten Hope 2 and it is a special one, being both a night-time map and an objective map. It is also the first map by ctz, who clearly has previously hidden mapping talents.

Operation Hyacinth was part of the larger Operation Agreement raiding campaign which took place in September of 1942. The Hyacinth operation, aimed principally at the airfield located near the Libyan town of Barce, was the most succesful of all of the otherwise costly Operation Agreement raids. LRDG patrols under Major J. R. Easonsmith traveled over 700 miles and destroyed sixteen aircraft, damaged many others, and caused heavy damage to the Barce airfield and nearby town.

In Forgotten Hope 2's Operation Hyacinth map British forces will need to destroy planes, airfield facilities, supplies and communications before the Axis defenders can organize a defence. ctz has a few other tricks up his sleeve for this map that will be shown in a future update. One is a working flare gun, suitable for signalling or flushing the opposition out of the shadows. But you will need to wait for a future news update for a look at that.

We are proud to present the new campaign in our Forgotten Hope Tournament: Rising Thunder. This time it is up to the British Commonwealth and their allies to defend themselves against the Japanese Empire. Our battles will take you deep into a theatre not seen before in the world of Battlefield 1942.

The registration for Rising Thunder is open, and we welcome everyone to participate in this great Battlefield experience. We have developed a Mod that in combination with Forgotten Hope delivers an amazing gameplay. We offer you:

	32 vs 32 battles every friday night.
	Totally customized maps that we run in a chronological order
	New weapons, vehicles and troops: The Dutch Knil Forces!
	An original chain of command system.
	Historical maps for each battle.
	Teamplay on the highest possible level!
	Customized soldiers and vehicle skins, minimaps and insignias.
	A powerful 64-player server good ping for the US and Europe.
	A very active community with people from all over the world.

Of course our tournament is free and you can choose which army you want to fight for:

The War in Burma, Singapore, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies has never been presented before and our developers have worked hard to prepare this epic campaign which will give you a unique experience in a new and exciting environment. The equipment used in the battles progresses as the campaign goes on, so the farther you go the more explosive and deadly the combat will become! As the months go by you will be drawn deeper and deeper into the campaign and with our new and improved scoring system, ultimately one army will be victorious.

Forgotten Honor would especially would like to extend our thanks to the Eve Of Destruction Mod from which we have had the pleasure of incorporating helpful features. Welcome to the best Forgotten Hope Tournament, join an army and prepare to defend your honor!

We are expanding! Forgotten Honor has grown big and we have three teams that work hard to produce the tournament; a Mapping team, a Media team and our Mod team. We are currently looking for skilled Skinners, Coders, Mappers, Modellers and Graphical Artists who want to participate in a dynamic and interactive community.

That's all for today, but be sure to come back again for another Forgotten Hope update soon. Until then, we invite you to visit our public forums and/or our IRC channel to discuss this update or other news.